Chapter 2043: Siege of the Jiao Sharks

Boom!

Five peak-level Immortal Lord longswords simultaneously unleashed the divine sword intent, far surpassing the power of earlier moves like One Sword Ocean. In the blink of an eye, the wall above was churned into a hole allowing him passage.

Zhang Xuan drilled into it.

Just as he entered, a violent explosion occurred below. Where he had stood, a black fissure appeared, and space itself was annihilated.

"Quick!"

Knowing he had only caught them off guard—once they reacted and shattered the rock wall with force, he wouldn't escape—he poured out his internal power recklessly. The five longswords became like meat grinders; the rock ahead turned to powder on contact, mixing into the seawater, turning it turbid.

"Where do you think you're going..."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amid the roars, the rock wall below shook violently. The entire lair of the Jiao Sharks developed cracks, threatening to collapse at any moment.

It seemed the Jiao Shark hadn't expected him to drill directly into the rock wall and had followed closely.

Zhang Xuan's small body only needed a hole big enough for himself. The Jiao Shark, huge, could only force its way through by brute strength.

True Qi erupted continuously. After three breaths, Zhang Xuan emerged from the rock wall, outside the enemy's lair.

With a grab, he stored the longswords into his ring and hurriedly flew toward the vegetation in the huge trench ahead.

Before he got far, the cave below emitted a dull rumble and collapsed. The Jiao Shark behind him burst out of the turbid water, opened its mouth wide, and roared.

Boom!

Water surged madly. The vegetation Zhang Xuan had thought sturdy proved as fragile as foam before this current.

"Chop!"

Seeing the force was too fast to evade, Zhang Xuan's face darkened. The Tongchang Sword appeared in his palm, and he slashed down fiercely.

The majestic sword energy met the water current. His tiger's mouth went numb. Though he blocked the attack, his chest felt tight, and he involuntarily tumbled backward.

"So strong..."

His pupils contracted, his body stiffened.

This was his first real battle against a Pseudo-God realm expert.

Earlier, taming the Xuanbei Turtle had relied on Little Yellow Chicken's power. Now that creature had caused trouble and gone into the pet pouch, leaving him to face such a strong opponent alone—he finally understood how terrifying it was!

Though he had broken through to early Immortal Lord and his physical body had reached peak Immortal Lord, he was still no match before this foe!

Controlling his tumbling body, Zhang Xuan continued rushing out of the fissure.

One Pseudo-God was already this fearsome; if all three came out, plus hundreds of Immortal Lords, fleeing was the only option or death.

"Stealing something and trying to escape? Don't think it's that easy!"

Hearing the thunderous voice again, he looked up to see a huge mouth before him, countless sharp teeth like weapons, icy cold.

The two Jiao Sharks from the throne had left the cave faster and blocked his escape route!

As the voice ended, an even larger water current poured down from above.

No longer holding back, Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist. The refined Pseudo-God weapon chain piled up into a huge shield.

A powerful explosion erupted on the spot, pulverizing countless vegetation and rocks.

Under the immense impact, Zhang Xuan's arms went numb, barely able to lift them.

The Pseudo-God weapon, though blocking the attack, shook his internal organs, causing severe injury.

"What sin have I committed..."

He felt like crying but had no tears.

He had only wanted to investigate without disturbing them, and he had done exactly that—who could have known Little Yellow Chicken would be so unreliable?

In the past, being unreliable still meant solving problems...

But now, you swallow the divine blood and find a place to sleep, while I'm hunted by three Pseudo-God experts...

It felt utterly ridiculous!

"A Pseudo-God weapon?" Seeing the shield he summoned, the Jiao Shark above's eyes lit up. "One drop of divine blood for a weapon—worth it..."

No matter how strong divine blood was, after absorbing one drop to break through to Pseudo-God, further absorption had little effect!

But if a Pseudo-God weapon were refined, it could absolutely double one's combat power.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three Pseudo-God realm spirit beasts attacked simultaneously, water currents crushing from three directions.

"Xuanbei Turtle, take me away quickly..."

Blocking again with the chain shield, Zhang Xuan was shaken limp, on the verge of collapse. With a thought, the Xuanbei Turtle appeared before him.

Whoosh!

The turtle instantly expanded to hundreds of meters, carrying Zhang Xuan toward the sea surface.

It was much faster than Zhang Xuan, but the three Jiao Sharks were even faster, their attacks unceasing, as if trying to crush the ocean itself.

"Old turtle, we didn't expect you to submit to a human instead of us—a disgrace to the ocean!"

"Even if you submit to a human, at least pick a strong one. An early Immortal Lord... how have you fallen so low?"

"You reckless thing! Since you're here, don't leave. Die here with your new master!"

...

Sneers came from all around. As old rivals, seeing the Xuanbei Turtle acknowledge a master, the three Jiao Sharks all taunted.

"Master, we might not escape..."

After several consecutive attacks, speed plummeted, and they hadn't even left the seabed fissure. The Xuanbei Turtle transmitted helplessly.

Earlier, it could escape because it turned and ran at the first attack, and the enemy hadn't truly intended to kill.

Now, this master had stolen their divine blood and leveled their lair...

The hatred was irreconcilable—how could they escape?

"We can't escape..."

Zhang Xuan looked up from the turtle's back. During the fight, the Immortal Lord spirit beasts from the hall had sealed off all escape routes.

In other words, no matter which path he took, he would be attacked and eventually surrounded by the three Jiao Sharks.

"What to do?"

The Xuanbei Turtle was on the verge of tears.

Earlier, it had advised the master not to go, but he wouldn't listen—now look!

Could it be that after barely escaping one danger, they would die here?

"Since we can't escape, let's fight..."

Zhang Xuan stood upright on the turtle's back.

Though the enemy had three Pseudo-God experts, he had a Pseudo-God weapon, a Pseudo-God spirit pet, plus his clone and many Soul-less Golden Men. It wouldn't be easy for them to keep him!

"Fight?"

The Xuanbei Turtle wobbled. "How? I can hold off at most one..."

"You hold off one, and I'll find a way to kill another. Once one dies, they should become wary..."

Zhang Xuan said.

Though the three Jiao Sharks were allied, he didn't believe there was true camaraderie. Once one died, the remaining two would surely be cautious, and the surrounding Immortal Lord spirit beasts would also be afraid.

Then there would be a chance to escape!

After all, his goal was to leave, not to kill them all.

"Alright!"

Gritting its teeth, the Xuanbei Turtle retracted its head and limbs into its shell and charged at one of the Jiao Sharks.

Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist, turning the shield back into a chain, and followed closely.

"Your opponent is me!"

Before he swam far, a Jiao Shark charged over, its massive tail sweeping.

Zhang Xuan was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the fissure's rock wall, creating a huge pit.

"Hmph!"

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Zhang Xuan moved his mind, and a Soul-less Golden Man flew out, charging straight at the Jiao Shark.

"What, you have backup?"

The Jiao Shark was startled, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed the Soul-less Golden Man in one gulp. "This isn't backup—it's a snack..."

"Hmph..."

Zhang Xuan activated his mind.

Boom!

The Soul-less Golden Man inside the enemy's belly instantly self-destructed.

That was why he had let it be eaten.

"Pfft!"

Under the massive explosion, the Jiao Shark spat out a mouthful of blood, lost a sharp tooth, and was thoroughly disheveled.

"You dare hurt me? I'll kill you..."

Feeling the searing pain inside, this Jiao Shark was going mad.

Since reaching Pseudo-God, it had never been so badly injured!

Swoosh!

It charged straight at Zhang Xuan, mouth wide open, intending to swallow him in one bite.

"Still alive..."

Zhang Xuan's eyelids twitched.

A peak Immortal Lord Soul-less Golden Man's self-destruction would kill any peak Immortal Lord within a hundred meters. This one had it explode in its belly, yet only spat blood and lost a tooth—was Pseudo-God really that strong?

The chain turned into a huge shield again, blocking the bite. Just as Zhang Xuan was about to throw another Soul-less Golden Man into its mouth, he saw another Jiao Shark behind him.

"I'll have to use the clone..."

Knowing that if attacked from both sides, with Little Yellow Chicken unreliable, he might die here, Zhang Xuan gritted his teeth. Just as he was about to summon his clone and the Ruthless One to block the latter, he saw the rushing Jiao Shark suddenly stop, and a huge voice resounded through the sea.

"Everyone, stop!"

Rumble!

It was the one who had sat on the first throne, the strongest of the three Jiao Sharks.

Hearing the command, the Jiao Shark about to swallow Zhang Xuan stopped, and the one fighting the Xuanbei Turtle also hovered in place.

"Boss, this human broke in and stole the divine blood—unforgivable. He must die..."

The Jiao Shark that lost a tooth said angrily.

"Yes, boss, why stop? Though they have many tricks, if we join forces, we can still kill him..."

The second Jiao Shark added.

"Shut up!"

The one called boss shouted, cutting off his two underlings. He looked at Zhang Xuan again, his huge eyes scanning him up and down without missing a detail.

Seeing this, unsure of the intention, Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes, keeping his immortal power circulating, wary of a sneak attack.

Just as he was puzzled and at a loss, the huge Jiao Shark before him suddenly bowed and prostrated itself on the ground.

"Subordinate greets the master!"